New Hampshire House Passes Bill To Ban Sex-Change Treatments For minors

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – New Hampshire’s House of Representatives on Thursday passed a bill that would ban sex change treatments, including puberty blockers and surgeries, for minors under the age of 18, Newsweek reports.

Introduced by Republican lawmakers who hold a three-vote majority in the House, the bill passed 199-175, with 14 Democrats voting in favor and three Republicans voting against it, Newsweek reports. Eleven Republicans either did not vote or were absent. The bill now passes to the Republican-led Senate and must be signed by GOP Governor Chris Sununu, Newsweek.

Sununu has not indicated whether he will sign the bill if it reaches his desk, but traditionally, Republicans have voted in favor of banning sex-change treatments for minors, while Democrats have typically voted in favor of allowing them.

In a House speech explaining his decision to support the Republican bill, Democratic Representative Jonah Wheeler said: “Despite the fact that I am a liberal, despite the fact that I believe in nondiscrimination for trans people, for gay people, for queer people and that I will fight until my very last day until they are recognized as human beings, the question before us is whether or not children under the age of 18 should be able to get these surgeries.”

“And I, despite being a liberal who believes in those human rights, do not think that is the case,” Wheeler said.

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